because the Niger Delta flows through my blood
because I know guava by taste, not name
because I eat ripe plantain raw
because the most natural piece of clothing to put on my body is a wrappa
because sometimes I like to walk barefoot—the streets, the grass, the sand, the earth
because sometimes I get so homesick I can’t function
because there is nothing as strong as my love for my people, my country,
our languages, how we move, how we dress
because when the music plays, my soul comes out
because I love the heat, sweat dripping down my back, sweat everywhere
because I love you
because I always have and always will
because I will always save a song for you, find a song to dance with you to
because you give me life
because you make me laugh
because I was born to do it
because your smile lights up mine
because I love fish, love the water
I represent the Delta
I represent all the peoples you don’t see
the Naija women makin love to each other in the night night soft soft slow slow hard hard
I represent to you who you do not know
I represent the
the subway tracks,
the red soil
the urban, the rural,
the daughter of the village
who dances on concrete
because I am a mixture of so many rhythms and beats
because I like heels and power tools
because I am soft
because the beat, the beat, the beat, I live by that beat, because of and within that beat
because I was meant to tell stories
I came so I could tell you
all this and all this and all this
because the Delta flows through my blood
because because
because of these things
I am an artist
